“Just believe in myself. There’s a lot of outside factors that come into play with this sport, as everyone knows, but just always believe in myself” – Pat Sabatini has confidence as the keystone of his fight preparations, and rightfully so. What else would you expect from a fighter who hails from ‘The Keystone State’?

Sabatini has amped up the hype around his name with 3 fights and 3 victories in the UFC in his debut year. He has already fought 8 bouts in the UFC and won 6 of them, etching his name in the book of legacies with a deeper mark.  So today, let’s take a look at Pat Sabatini’s ethnic background, nationality, and religion, and see if they impacted his life as a professional mixed martial artist. After all, these are the factors that have built the featherweight contender. 

What is Pat Sabatini’s ethnicity and nationality?

Sabatini was born and brought up in Bristol, Pennsylvania, on 9 November 1990. No wonder, Pennsylvania booms with cheers as Sabatini enters the arena, shouldering the stars and stripes. Earlier in November 2024, Sabatini appeared in an interview with Parry Punch. Therein, he weighed in on what it was like to grow up in Bristol. He said, “It’s like a small town, you know. Everyone kinda knows each other. I think I graduated high school like 95 people. It’s very small… Small but strong.”

Can you imagine passing out with just 95 other kids in senior year? Well, Sabatini claimed that the population was on a decline. The reason? It might be because of the small area. “I think it’s probably the size of the town. It’s like just a couple square miles, dude. It’s real small,” Sabatini said.

Bristol is actually about 20-25 minutes away from Philadelphia on a good day, according to Sabatini. And that has pushed the fighting community to link him up with fighters hailing from Philly. Take Sean Brady, for example. Paul Felder and Eddie Alvarez also used to fight out of Philadelphia. But how inspired is Sabatini by Brady and others? We’ll get to it soon. But first, let’s take a look at the story of how he got into the world of martial arts.

And before landing in the world of mixed martial arts, he indulged in ice hockey upon his father’s request. Well, nothing really is known about his parents or family. But an incident during his hockey days pushed him towards MMA. When he was still a hockey player, Sabatini had his head shoved into a urinal by a school bully. That’s when he got himself into the realm of martial arts and began learning Tang So Doo. Soon, he moved on to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and then wrestling. That explains the skill behind his 13 career submission wins. He earned 100 wins in high school wrestling and even stepped into NCAA D1 wrestling at Rider University. When he turned 17, Sabatini stepped into his first cage fight. His amateur record read 11-1 when he decided to switch to becoming a professional fighter and enter CFFC.

But what religion does the featherweight contender follow? Is he a follower of Christ, like 62% of the people from Pennsylvania? Let’s take a look at it and find out all about Sabatini’s religious beliefs. 

Which religion does Pat Sabatini follow?

Well, Sabatini hasn’t publicly revealed anything about his religious beliefs. However, we can certainly make an educated guess. Given his cultural background, it’s possible that he hails from a Christian background. And if we look at his last name, ‘Sabatini’ might have roots lying in Italy. And like most Italian-Americans, the featherweight star might also be a Roman Catholic. But until he says so himself, we cannot confirm that he practices any religion actively. 

And as we saw earlier, Sabatini likes to have faith in himself. Well, that’s how he won all 5 of his grappling bouts, and claimed victory in 19 fights, with only 5 defeats on his professional MMA record. Currently, he’s on a 1-fight win streak with his last battle against Jonathon Pierce ending with a win by rear naked choke in the first round. That was his 13th submission victory. Impressive, right? 

Earlier at UFC London, Sean Brady secured the #1 welterweight contender’s spot by defeating Leon Edwards in his homeland. And Sabatini seemed to be willing to follow his lead. During the UFC Vegas 105 pre-fight press conference, he said, “I think Sean set a good tone a couple of weeks ago with his win over Leon, and I’m looking to keep the ball rolling.” 

The Bristol-born featherweight contender is set to lock horns with Joanderson Brito at UFC on ESPN 65: Josh Emmett vs Lerone Murphy, on 5 April 2025. Needless to say, he’d do his best to claim a victory on Saturday night. Yet, we’d have to wait for the weekend to witness the action. 

Do you think his faith in himself can earn him the victory on 5 April 2025? Will he receive cheers and support from his fellow Pennsylvanians? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.